A Myst clone/homage through and through, Quern doesn’t break any new ground, but it’s an impressive debut adventure that would do Atrus proud.

A hybrid role-playing adventure game with high replayability and stunning 3D environments. In Betrayal At Club Low, players can customize their character and approach missions differently, using a dice mechanic that adds (not always welcome) randomness.

Though the inclusion of repetitive mini-games is anything but evolutionary, this game is well worth a look for those who can handle some reflex action in their adventures.

DigiTales Interactive has created a sci-fi whodunit hit with Between Horizons. Not only are the players tasked with solving an intricate investigation, but they are also thrown into a narrative that they shape through difficult choices that, once made, must be seen through to the end. It is a must-have game for anyone who loves mysteries and science fiction.

Jusant is a thoughtful climbing puzzler with exceptional storytelling that makes for an understated triumph in a year full of high-profile game releases.

Although several welcome elements return, some undesirable changes to the established formula and exasperating design choices make Zero Time Dilemma a lackluster send-off to a cult-favorite series.

The Sexy Brutale is a game I can happily recommend to just about anyone. The well-crafted environment, appealing music, and enthralling characters should appeal to virtually everyone who enjoys a good plot-driven game, and the overall mystery leads to a satisfyingly heartfelt conclusion. I reached that point in about eight hours’ time, though I dilly-dallied quite a lot on the way in order to leave no stone unturned, so seasoned adventurers will certainly be able to finish it even sooner. The lack of challenge may turn some people off, but surely only the most diehard puzzle fanatics. The simple fact is that it’s hard not to have a good time voyeuristically exploring this strange mansion and piecing together all the information you can find to save the lives of your masked cohorts. It’s a blast to do again and again, which is good because that’s what The Sexy Brutale continually invites you to do.

Aside from some of the underwhelming additions, Professor Layton and the Last Specter is yet another extremely competent puzzle-adventure game.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is two deduction-based adventure games in one, set over a hundred years prior to the original Phoenix Wright trilogy. With improved graphics, fun new characters and enthralling cases to solve, it more than lives up to the legacy of its classic predecessors.

Hilarious, intricate, and touching, Hypnospace Outlaw is a surreal, loving tribute to a younger, more innocent Internet as well as a compelling detective game.

Stacking mixes inventive gameplay with a charming visual style to produce an outstanding puzzle-adventure.

Beacon Pines is utterly charming yet wonderfully creepy, with a surprisingly thoughtful narrative despite its cute characters and storybook aesthetic.

An extremely succesful and balanced adventure, and a worthy sequel in a venerable franchise.

Superbrothers is a unique audio-visual experience that turns an old cliché into a refreshing and intriguing adventure, though it sacrifices gameplay to achieve it.

Roadwarden takes a page out of the choose-your-own-adventure playbook, incorporating combat, role-playing, and diplomacy into its visual novel trappings. Although surviving its world can be stressful, there is plenty of worthwhile adventuring to be had.

A short but satisfying adventure in a surreal and creative world, Caetano’s Slice is a terrific entry in the Off-Peak series and a promising first volume of a new anthology.

It’s still a little shallow in the gameplay department, but right down to the closing credits, it’s a lovingly thorough ode to retro games, and an amusing final adventure with some of the most colorful, acerbic, and silly characters you’ll ever virtually meet. If you can appreciate those things, then consider this game more than worthy of its pixels.

Full of charm, beauty and challenge, Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a magnificent embodiment of the famous books series that provided its inspiration.

At nearly 4GB, The Book of Unwritten Tales isn't small in size or scope, and provides a huge amount of entertainment from start to end.

Kentucky Route Zero‘s second act keeps things weird, but feels a tad slight and uneventful compared to the first.

Sporting improved visual and audio quality, the remastered Sam & Max Save the World lovingly updates the episodic classic, though a few tweaks and changes may leave it just shy of being the definitive version for some longtime fans of the original.

Rosewater is a modern classic, a story of how one may find and form a family through road trip exploits. Great graphics and sound design, multiple-solution puzzles, and creative accessibility options make this adventure an experience that players will remember long after the game is over.

Whilst not performing any great new feats, The Miracle Mask is a solid first 3DS addition to the Layton franchise.

It's remarkable that Telltale can still, at this point in the series, reinvent the entire concept and create such an original and delightful adventure experience. The best episode yet.

An outstanding simulation game with a remarkably strong narrative spine. Wylde Flowers is not hugely emotionally impactful, but is good fun – though given its genre, expect a bit of grind.

Frog Detective 3: Corruption at Cowboy County will appeal to both series veterans and those looking to try out the mystery genre experience. The characters are quirky enough to be funny, and the lively changes in the environments and soundtrack are welcome. However, certain gameplay loops and drawn-out dialogues may drive impatient players away.

Gemini Rue is an imperfect adventure game, but a triumph of DIY adventure development and a marvelous feat of interactive storytelling.

Danganronpa may not score highly with its excessive menagerie of gameplay mechanics, but if you’re morbidly curious and want to indulge your darker side, this unique visual novel adventure gets a solid passing grade.

Stray manages to straddle the glee of playing a roguish feline with an absorbing sci-fi story and gorgeously detailed landscapes.

I used the phrase "very good game-but like its predecessor, not quite great" to describe the previous episode. Lair of the Leviathan not only clears "great", but sails way into the depths of "historically fantastic."

An unparalleled sucess at storytelling, and even the most stupefying crate puzzle can't overcome the ability to tell a great story.

Road to Gehenna is a worthy extension of The Talos Principle, adding more of the brilliant puzzles and clever storytelling that helped the original stand out from the pack.

Despite a few arbitrary cracks, Dire Grove is another (frozen) solid entry in the growing casual adventure library, and a worthy addition to the Mystery Case Files series.

Creaks has beauty, creativity and invention to spare, but don’t let its flighty facade fool you: there’s challenge aplenty here too.

Anyone a bit worried after the second episode can welcome the series back with open arms; A Crooked Mile is an intense and violent episode that is fun and over far too quickly.

With its creatively whimsical yet sincere approach, entertaining mechanics, memorable story, likable characters and vibrant world, Wandersong proves to be one of the most memorable and endearing games to come out of an independent studio in recent times.

If you haven’t jumped onto the bandwagon yet, you are doing yourself a disservice by missing the best comic adventure games in the modern era.

Beautiful? Stunning? Breathtaking? All words that can safely be used when describing Syberia's graphics. The level of detail is simply immense.

Lost in Play is an appealing, even mesmerizing adventure game with one of the best settings ever conceived and some very amusing puzzles. There are certain plot threads that are lacking, and the challenges can be arduous, even with the hint system. Still, this is an adventure game that is well worth experiencing.

The Last Guardian is a game that can hold its own with the best. It’s a story about a unique bond of friendship, filled with both sadness and triumph that will make you cheer out loud even while wiping your tears.

A fateful return of a venerable series proves it still has legs even 10 odd years on.

Technobabylon is a beautiful, compelling game that fans of the cyberpunk genre will devour, as long as you don’t mind a bit of story confusion along the way.

With its sheer volume of ever-evolving challenges, it’d be easy to credit Filament with being just an excellent puzzle game, but its equally impressive ability to build an emotional connection to the cast and central mystery is a feat that few puzzle games are able to achieve.

Puzzle mavens, avid gardeners and admirers of sumptuous scenery will find much that is entertaining in Botany Manor’s unusual horticultural tableaus.

The unique Mad Libs-style text presentation of Blackbar’s sci-fi social commentary is certainly engaging, but it works better as an innovative reading experience rather than a fully-realized adventure game.

Though it poses little in the way of challenge, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter delivers a gripping, gradually unfolding tragedy set in a beautiful open woodland environment that you are free to explore at will.

The Walking Dead may have more gore than puzzles, but by striking out in a new direction that focuses on atmospheric storytelling, Telltale delivers one their most compelling and enjoyable titles to date.

Other than falling fowl of having too many unnecessary mini-games, Chicken Police intrigues with its eye-catching visuals, superb voice acting and peck-uliar film noir-style story.

It’s still a little shallow in the gameplay department, but right down to the closing credits, it’s a lovingly thorough ode to retro games, and an amusing final adventure with some of the most colorful, acerbic, and silly characters you’ll ever virtually meet. If you can appreciate those things, then consider this game more than worthy of its pixels.

My Friendly Neighborhood is an old-school survival horror throwback with a delightfully refreshing premise and plenty of fun to be had.

A creation of obvious love and care, Botanicula is a must-play for those seeking a truly imaginative and entertaining adventure game

999 is a gutsy, mature story that blends horror, science, and character-driven drama in intriguing, thoughtful ways. It's also backed by some sparse but solid gameplay, melding traditional puzzle types with a cohesive math-based theme that nicely suits its subject matter. Unfortunately, what could have been a taut psychological thriller all too often becomes a plodding, pace-killing narrative full of bloated, poorly-integrated dialogue.

The laid-back nature of the simple but fun exploratory gameplay coupled with the soothing music and lush scenery make A Short Hike a relaxing adventure filled with not only humor but the tenderness of personal connections.

Lil’ Guardsman is a superb game that excels in just about every area, held back only by a couple of notable flaws that prevent it from earning full marks.

With a long playing time, and loads of intrigue, this game is a sure bet for history buffs and casual fans...A must have, but clear your schedule as it takes between 50 and 60 hours to complete.

Short on challenge but full of moments that can make you laugh or cry, Welcome to Elk is an intense and memorable narrative experience about a group of people dealing with the hardships of life.

Balanced firmly between satisfying puzzles, survival horror gameplay, and an amusing story that satirizes the grind of corporate life, the odd but thoroughly engaging Yuppie Psycho has all the makings of a cult classic.

To the Moon is an unassuming game that does an unbelievably good job of evoking emotion. It tells a sweet, sad story in an unconventional way, and it shows a lot of promise for Freebird Games.

The best game so far in the Nancy Drew series.

Agent A is a little amuse-bouche that should somewhat whet your appetite for the next tale in this hopefully ongoing iOS spy series.

The Walking Dead’s middle instalment begins with an overly long, slow burn, though it gradually builds toward the tense excitement that series fans have become accustomed to.

Life Is Strange: True Colors paints a pretty picture, creating a story you’ll really want to invest in, with only a slow plot point or two distracting from what is otherwise a great work of art.

While The Haunting of Castle Malloy poses a genuine challenge that will take even experienced gamers between 10-15 hours, the unbalanced difficulty of the puzzles and mini-games combined with an uninteresting bunch of characters and locations results in one of the lesser Nancy Drew games on the market.

One of the best of the games in the series, Dual Destinies takes a while to build back up from its explosive beginning, but it’s more of the same fun characters, stories, and gameplay fans have come to expect.

As much a poem as it is a game, Kentucky Route Zero: Act I is the bizarre, lovely first leg of a road trip into the sad, strange heart of America.

Chock-full of gorgeous, great-sounding set pieces and characters, the hilarious Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka with Love presents a witty commentary on Cold War era politics within a story and gameplay that anyone can enjoy.

Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard expands on its predecessor’s strengths with an even wider cast of loveable, eccentric characters to question, all the while keeping the original’s sunny charm and humour.

While this episode still hints at the underlying brilliance of the Chapman Brothers, it ultimately mucks about in too much pre-adolescent nonsense to carry much weight or ever feel very engaging.

An investigative adventure that actually makes you feel like a detective, Paradise Killer blends surreal world-building, vibrant art, clever writing, and rock-solid open-world gameplay to create an experience you won’t soon forget.

In spite of this chapter's sometimes bland early tone and uneven puzzle mechanics, Rise of the Pirate God and the series as a whole both come with my highest recommendation as a modern adventure genre must-play.

All told, the second episode of Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People includes a little more talking and lot more collecting than Homestar Ruiner, with the same marginal amount of small-scale puzzling in between.

Elroy and the Aliens is a charismatic game, filled with hope, love and camaraderie. Serious and comedic themes combine in a fascinating narrative complemented by colorful, whimsical graphics. I recommend Elroy and the Aliens to all adventurers.

With its charming gameplay, excellent use of the Nintendo DS features, truly funny dialogue, intricate plot, and personable cast of characters, this "soon to be a classic" title offers plenty of gaming enjoyment.

With his sixth globetrotting escapade, Professor Layton secures an enduring gaming legacy, with just a few little bumps on the way.

It's been a whole two years without a new adventure for the Freelance Police, but the wait has been worth it, at least for one episode

Though more action-oriented than adventure gamers might be used to, Moss is that rare game that delivers exactly what it promised, delivering a lovely bonding experience with an adorable companion while solving puzzles and having a great time exploring a magical fairy tale kingdom.

Fast paced, fabulous looking and full of opportunities to wreak havoc, Overboard!’s endlessly entertaining choice-driven story of murder and deceit aboard a 1930s ship will have you falling hook, line and sinker.

It’s hard to find much fault with Spirit of Justice. Dramatically improving upon its predecessors’ storytelling and varying the familiar gameplay elements, this game gives the trilogy – and series, for now – a more-than-polished conclusion that engages the brain as well as the heart.

Slighter than other Amanita offerings, CHUCHEL whizzes you through an assortment of easy but highly comical sketches, succeeding in its primary aim of making you laugh.

While this episode still hints at the underlying brilliance of the Chapman Brothers, it ultimately mucks about in too much pre-adolescent nonsense to carry much weight or ever feel very engaging.

Happy Game sends players on a shrieking, blood-soaked odyssey through the candy-colored hell within a young boy’s subconscious. Though it’s weakened somewhat by a less-cohesive third act, overall it’s a vivid interactive nightmare with a striking aesthetic and powerful narrative conceit.

Although the titular character is disappointingly all but absent from the affair, fans of Petronella Osgood and the Weeping Angels should enjoy this voyeuristic journey through the misplaced phone of a series extra in Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins.

Visage drapes over you like some ghastly blanket, smothering you with unsettling ambiance and high-quality scares. Though it fumbles a certain stretch of gameplay, its otherwise meticulously designed structure, head-scratching puzzles, and creative manipulation of level design more than pick up any slack.

Stories Untold is better than the sum of its parts, even if this collection of horror-themed interactive fiction vignettes never quite capitalizes on the potential of its concept.

Nelly Cootalot’s latest voyage is overflowing with charm and heart – and puns, oh the puns! It may not be the stiffest challenge out there, but it’ll leave you with a warm feeling inside.

Solid addition to the series and likely the best Nancy Drew game of them all. For those who crave a few evenings of gaming where charm, good looks and diversion come first, this is a definite buy.

Culture Shock in every way looks, sounds, and feels like a true Sam & Max sequel. If you can forgive the ease of the puzzles and embrace the episodic concept, it is nothing less than a complete blast of fun.

While it has a few design decisions holding it back, the time-traveling joys of Wanderer promise a bright future for adventure games within the VR space.

Syberia: The World Before is a wonderful return to form for Benoît Sokal’s venerable series. Beautiful, engaging, and moving, it’s the strongest chapter in Kate Walker’s journey yet.

3 Minutes to Midnight’s high production values and vibrant, idiosyncratic world recall the best of classic adventures, but it often goes overboard and requires a steep level of commitment from players to get the most from it, dampening the fun factor.

This is by far the deepest, darkest game in the series, yet the superb writing means that it will also be the funniest you'll encounter.

Despite the odd rough story edge and puzzling design choice, The City That Dares Not Sleep is a refreshing, triumphant end to The Devil's Playhouse.

Aside from its monochromatic graphics and the occasional user interface problem, Prim is quite polished – and its dialog, voice acting, and music is stellar.

An epic tale that reunites some much-loved characters and recreates the magic of good, old-fashioned point-and-click adventuring in a hyper-attractive world, the Book of Unwritten Tales 2 is a must-play for fans of the genre.

The Last Campfire is a wonderful way to while away a few evenings, pondering your own mortality while having a fun time doing it by solving puzzles in a lovely fantasy world.

If you loved the first one or thought that it would be excellent if only the puzzles were more challenging, this is a game you will not want to be without.

An incredible, audacious attempt that doesn't quite live up to its goals. Easily one of the most complex stories ever told in a computer game. Highly recommended as both the continuation of a great series and on the strength of its high points.

Season: A Letter to the Future stands as a relatively successful combination of exploration, documentation and philosophical meditation. Its surface beauty is matched by its depth of reflection, only marred by some repetitive gameplay elements and strange character design choices.